


The Long Road Home

by Esmara



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers Animated (2007)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Animated OP and Mikaela because she deserved better, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Break Up, Road Trips, Robot/Human Relationships, also an Animated Charlie later bc my EMOTIONS, including an Autobot team that appreciates her, let's give her everything she deserves, second love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-20
Updated: 2021-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-21 12:28:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30021801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Esmara/pseuds/Esmara
Summary: Post-Sam, Mikaela's decided she's had enough. Enough of being a prop, enough being a prize, enough being sidelined for the Autobots, who could stand to be so much cooler than they are in practice. She packs up and decides to move to Detroit, which is as far away as she can afford, and start over with her actual true love - cars.Of course it doesn't go according to plan, and the Autobots come crashing back into her life with aplomb. But there's something... different about these Autobots, who seem like more of a scrappy team of washouts than the remains of a military crusade. And this new Optimus is way nicer, too - nice enough to let her crash at their place while she gets her bearings. And while she is curious about the odds of getting back to her world, she's not THAT worried...
Relationships: Bumblebee & Sari Sumdac, Bumblebee/Charlie Watson, Mikaela Banes/Optimus Prime
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	The Long Road Home

"So you know those little puddles you can see in the distance on highways, that disappear when you get close enough? I heard those were the most common type of mirage." It wasn't the most exciting conversation starter, but the road was stretching on and she wasn't sure how else to break the silence. He didn't even have music on. "Something about the light bending because the air's hotter just over the road."

"That makes sense," the truck driver said, "What humans perceive from light is actually the... absence of it, I think? It's been a while since I learned about it, but the colors you see are the ones that aren't absorbed." He seemed a bit uncertain with his words, so Mikaela nodded. The driver - she didn't catch the name - was clearly having a hard time adjusting to his unexpected passenger, and she was _trying_ to make this less painfully weird. She cleared her throat.

"Yeah, and what does go unabsorbed bounces off and hits our eyes. Still, it's weird, isn't it? What we're seeing is light that got... messed with. You think that's how we get, like... photographs tv signals and stuff like that? It's all different sciences, but it seems like it's all just... interrupting light."

"I think that's a good way of putting it." He looked out his mirror for a second - the road stretched long and lonely, and had for the last half-hour - "I think that's how I'd describe what I saw when I found you, too - interrupted light."

"Yeah." Mikaela tried to lean further into the seat, but the leather was too firm - too new, barely used, at least on this side. "Thanks for not running me over, by the way." The driver gave a nervous laugh, but smiled at her once he seemed to get she was joking - which she was. He seemed nice, if a bit shy, and used to driving alone. She couldn't tell if her company was putting him off, or if he just wasn't a confident chauffeur.

"It's my pleasure," he said, and she looked at him quizzically. "Sorry, not sure how to respond to that one." That got a bit of a laugh out of her, and he relaxed a bit. "But in all seriousness, I am glad you're alright. Whatever happened must have been terrifying. Are you sure you didn't see anything?"

"Nothing you didn't." She closed her eyes and tossed her head back a bit, trying to relax. "Just a bright flash of green light, and then I was driving the wrong way on a different highway and nearly smashed into yours." She opened her eyes in time to see him wince, and couldn't blame him - she was bummed about her car, but at least that was used and on loan. This truck was _new_ new, still shiny and freshly painted. That'd be a waste of a great vehicle... and, she thought, he probably didn't like the idea of squishing her flat. 

This whole truck felt new, but the driver didn't - even if he was like, thirty max by her guestimate, and he was clearly struggling to talk to her, it wasn't the way that boys normally did in the face of a pretty girl. He just seemed like he'd spent his life doing things other than talking, at least not to hang out. Former military school, she'd bet, by the way he held his shoulders and the haircut - they had a certain way of holding themselves when they swaggered in to get their cars checked, a way of presenting themselves. But the red jacket and being a truck driver told her a different story.

She learned a lot, looking at cars and their drivers.

"Maybe it's fate, you know?" He looked over at her as she spoke, just for a moment before turning back to the road. "I pop out of a wormhole, wreck my car, and have nothing to hook up my trailer to - and you have a truck cab ready and waiting. My knight in shining armor."

"Or plating," he said, and she laughed a bit. "Although I'm more relieved it was just your car that took damage. Are you sure you don't want me to take you to a hospital?"

"I feel fine," she said - it had been a jolt, swerving and bonking into the barrier, but she knew a serious wreck and that hadn't been it. At worst, her shoulder hurt from the seatbelt. "And I don't know if I can afford it. Besides, we're still pretty far from Detroit, right?"

"A few more miles," he said, frowning a bit. It was sweet, how worried he seemed about her, even if she'd nearly killed them both just a half-hour ago. "The tow car should be passing us to get to your vehicle soon, and a couple officers - we'll check then."

"Cool. So if I think I'm gonna die by that point, we'll call an ambulance then." He tensed up a bit and looked at her in alarm. "Relax, relax! I'm kidding." Right, right, she shouldn't joke like that if she thought he was ex-military, he'd probably seen some things. "I promise I feel fine."

"Alright," he said, and did relax. She look a moment to get another good look at him - blue jeans, red jacket of either leather or pleather, bit of graying at the temples but a young face. She was pretty sure he couldn't be older than thirty, just a few years older than her, and the only real information she'd gotten checking out the truck cab was that it was nice, and looked almost like some sort of fire engine. Between that and the guess, she wasn't getting a lot of information from him at all, and now that she thought of it-

"Hey, what's your name?" Mikaela leaned forward a bit, hands pressing into the leather seat. "You never told me." He turned to look at her, but a flash of light ahead caught his attention, and she looked up to see police lights. The truck pulled over and slowed down, and the window on his side lowered. She peered out over the dashboard to see a little yellow and black-striped car - oh man, flashbacks there - pull up, and a man who _should not_ have fit in it by his shoulders alone step out.

"Captain Fanzone," her driver said, "this is the young woman I called you about." She waved, and the man - who, by the blue and red lights breaking through the darkness of the highway at night was older, blond, and tired - and he waved back, though not with any cheer. He turned to face her driver friend, but it really seemed like he was talking to the truck.

"So you're saying she just appeared out of nowhere and crashed? Seems like a normal accident to me."

"I would agree, except I did actually mean nowhere. I sent you the coordinates for her car -"

"Yeah, the tow's got them, I'll send you the info in the morning." He looked up at her again. "You doing alright, miss? Got anywhere to go?"

"Nope!" That startled both of them, and her driver looked at her. "I mean, I feel fine, but I wasn't even close to Detroit when that light appeared." She shrugged, trying to smile even as she realized that she might not have had enough cash to stay the night at a hotel, at least not one besides the one she booked. The driver looked at the man named Fanzone, and both exchanged faces for a moment.

"...I don't know what the protocol is for this kind of situation," her driver said, "since I reported the crash to you..." Fanzone sighed.

"We're a police department, not a sanctuary," he said, though he did sound remorseful. "I can make some calls, but I have no idea what'll be open. You have any room down at... wherever it is you go to get out of my hair?"

"I... I mean, _yes,_ we do, but it is a secure location." Now _that_ was interesting. Was he, like, an undercover agent or something? Mikaela looked at her driver with interest, but he was still facing Fanzone, who was looking at the truck more than back at him. "I'll need to inform the rest of the team..."

"See if you can," Fanzone said, "and you, young lady." Mikaela nodded as he pointed at her. "You heard him, it's a secure location. Even I don't know where he goes when his group's not causing trouble. You'll respect that, won't you?"

"Yes, officer," she replied with her best smile, "I'll be good." He nodded.

"Good. Alright, I'll do a report on the car, you get her into town early enough that she can sleep. That's a thing human beings need, remember?" Mikaela giggled a bit and sat back in her seat, and the two exchanged a few more words before driving in opposite directions.

It was silence for a bit before the city came into view - white lights speckling the horizon and coming close much faster than she expected. It was much, _much_ prettier than she'd ever pictured Detroit being, and Mikaela couldn't help a 'wow' at the sight.

All the while, her driver was looking ahead, though she could have sworn she heard his voice a few times outside the vehicle, and a few others. Maybe she was a bit shaken from the crash - but the thought of what the hospital bills would look like here kept her mouth shut. Finally he pulled off the highway, and the truck slowed as they approached, leaving the darkness for the lights of the city. She looked at the driver, but his expression had turned apprehensive, almost apologetic.

"Hey, you okay?" He pulled up to a red light and shook his head, tapping one finger on the steering wheel.

"I didn't think this through," he said, looking down, and for the first time she noticed that something was off - she could see the wheel under his hands, just a bit, and he wasn't making a dent in the leather seat underneath him. "My main concern was getting you into the city, but if you have to stay with us..."

"What, not used to girls?" He looked at her and started to speak, but the light turned green and he started moving forward. He did not turn away from her as he did. "Hey, you might want to keep your eyes on the road."

"They are," he said after a moment, looking forward, "just not the way... I'm sorry, I don't know how to begin talking about this." They turned a corner, a flash of yellow neon crawling overhead and moving right through him. "I'm the leader of a... group, here in Detroit, that works to protect the city. We work with the police department, and the fire department, but we're not..."

If it were anyone else, perhaps this would be the big reveal, but for Mikaela it suddenly clicked. The truck was too new, a secure location, he didn't listen to music and Fanzone had to remind him that humans _slept._ No normal person, especially a trucker, wouldn't have some sort of music on a stretch of highway that long. It hit her like lightning.

"-human," she finished, and he looked at her in surprise. "Sorry, I just... I get it now. You were out there to check out what that flash was," she said, "because it was alien, like you."

"...How could you know-"

"You're in my world too," she said, "if I'm... right. If this is another world, since the ones there are, like, old national news and you feel the need to explain yourself. You're..." and then it _double_ clicked for her. "You're not driving this truck. You are this truck."

He blinked, looking surprised, while the truck pulled up to an old-looking building and went through a side entrance. He'd never been looking at her anyway, this whole thing was just to be polite. "I... yes, that's exactly right. And it raises... a lot more questions."

"Oh, totally, I have _no_ idea what's going on," she said, "but I gotta say, the ones back home didn't have hologram drivers. That's pretty cool."

"Oh, thank you," he said, "but I should probably..."

The driver disappeared, and the passenger door unlocked. She hopped out and watched the trailer click free of the cab - and suddenly it made sense that he'd never gotten out to attach it and had been perfectly fine backing up - and the familiar sound started, metal parts unfolding and clicking together as the truck cab moved _up._

The Autobot looking down at her actually looked a lot like the driver, she noted with surprise, even if he was much more blue and made of metal. He knelt down to her level and offered a large hand and she took it, and looking at his head, she noted the blue helmet-thing. It looked like...

"We never did introduce ourselves," he said, offering the same bashful smile she'd gotten in the car. "My name is Optimus Prime." Mikaela smiled - because of or despite the familiarity, she wasn't sure - and put her hand in his massive palm.

"Mikaela Banes," she said, making a note to write down the date later for the craziest day ever. "It's nice to meet you, Optimus Prime."

**Author's Note:**

> ... It's 2021. It's been a hard year. I just want good things for Mikaela Banes. So I'm making it happen.


End file.
